Dena Hankins (born December 1, 1975) is an American novelist and short story author, best known for queer and transgender erotic romance. Her short stories have been published in several erotica anthologies, including ''Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 8'' edited by

Rachel Kramer Bussel Rachel Kramer Bussel (born 1975) is an American author, columnist, and editor, specializing in erotica. She previously studied at the New York University School of Law and earned her bachelor's degree in political science and women's studies f ...

. Her non-fiction articles about sailing, electric motors for sailboats, and DIY boat repair have been published by the trusted British magazine

Practical Boat Owner ''Practical Boat Owner'' is a British magazine about boats. It is published by Future plc. It covers boat maintenance and repairs, sailing activities and news about sailing and motor boats. History ''Practical Boat Owner'' was started in 1967. ...

and she edited several editions of the boater's cruising guides published by ''The Waterway Guide''. Hankins' fiction is part of a growing trend to feature queer romance that is outside of the "issues" books that were once more common. ''Publishers Weekly'' called her novel ''Blue Water Dreams'', featuring a love story between a queer cisgender woman and a transgender man, an "exciting debut", and Lambda Literary Review included ''Blue Water Dreams'' among "new and noteworthy" LGBT books. Literary blog ''Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews'' chose Blue Water Dreams for inclusion in its "Best of 2014" top ten list. The

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

found her book to be "well within the expectations of the romance genre, albeit with an aypical male lead." Hankins' second novel, ''Heart of the Lilikoi'', features an erotic romance between a cisgender lesbian construction contractor and a masculine

genderqueer Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...

solar energy scientist in the midst of sabotage, murder, and the

Hawaiian sovereignty movement The Hawaiian sovereignty movement () is a grassroots political and cultural campaign to reestablish an autonomous or independent nation or kingdom of Hawaii out of a desire for sovereignty, self-determination, and self-governance. Some group ...

. ''Publishers Weekly'' called ''Heart of the Lilikoi'' an "intriguing contemporary", "strong and satisfying" with "intensely vivid erotic encounters". ''Lysistrata Cove'', published in September 2016, is a romance within a tale of high seas adventure while examining questions of artistic autonomy within the U.S. music industry. Liz Baudler of ''

Windy City Times ''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985. History ''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Public ...

'' noted that "author Dena Hankins has mastered the art of casual inclusion" and said, "If

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores mathemati ...

, author of such sci-fi classics as

Snow Crash ''Snow Crash'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's novels, its themes include history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryp ...

and

Cryptonomicon ''Cryptonomicon'' is a 1999 novel by American author Neal Stephenson, set in two different time periods. One group of characters are World War II–era Allied codebreakers and tactical-deception operatives affiliated with the British Govern ...

, wrote BDSM erotica, tonally it would feel a lot like Lysistrata Cove." It includes a

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often Eroticism, erotic practices or Sexual roleplay, roleplaying involving Bondage (BDSM), bondage, Discipline (BDSM), discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given ...

relationship between a trans masculine sea captain and a

polyamorous Polyamory () is the practice of, or the desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. Some people who identify as polyamorous believe in consensual non-mono ...

queer superstar chanteuse.

Personal life

Hankins studied English literature at the

University of Washington Seattle The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Unite ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1998. Before launching her writing career Hankins worked for eight years as a sex educator with

Babeland Babeland, until 2005 known as Toys in Babeland, is a sex toy boutique offering erotic toys, books and pornographic films. LGBTQ-owned Babeland has an online store and four retail stores (in Seattle, Brooklyn, and two in Manhattan). History Cl ...

, a Seattle-based feminist sex toy store. In 2001 she was featured on HBO's ''Real Sex'' #26 as a demo model for a Babeland cunnilingus workshop. In 1999 she and her partner, photographer James Lane, bought a sailboat and began living aboard full-time. The couple sailed from Seattle to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 2000-2001, then across the Pacific Ocean to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in 2006. After living in Kerala, India, they returned to the United States to purchase a new sailing vessel and traveled the East Coast of the United States from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. After replacing their diesel engine with an electric motor, they sailed to

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

, and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. Hankins chronicles her "Around the World in 80 Years" traveling adventures as well as pieces from her growing body of literary work at her blog, ''Sovereign Nations''.

Bibliography

Novels: *''Blue Water Dreams'' published by

Bold Strokes Books Bold Strokes Books is a midsized independent publisher headquartered in Cambridge, New York that offers a diverse collection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer general and genre fiction. Their list includes romance, mystery/intrigu ...

(September 2014) *''Heart of the Lilikoi'' published by Bold Strokes Books (October 2015) *''Lysistrata Cove'' published by Bold Strokes Books (October 2016) Short Story Fiction: *"The Battle of Blair Mountain" in ''Thunder of War, Lightning of Desire: Lesbian Military Historical Erotica'', edited by Sacchi Green (October 2015) *"Cooling Down, Heating Up" in ''Love Burns Bright: A Lifetime of Lesbian Romance'', and in ''Best Lesbian Romance of the Year 2015'' both edited by

Radclyffe Radclyffe (real name Dr. Lenora Ruth Barot, born 1950) is an American author of lesbian romance, paranormal romance, erotica, and mystery. She has authored multiple short stories, written fan fiction, and edited numerous anthologies. Radclyffe i ...

(October 2013/February 2015) *"Demo Bottom" in ''The Big Book of Quickies'', edited by

(June 2024) *"Drag" in ''Best Women's Erotica of the Year volume 8'', edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (December 2022) *"Gift" in ''Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica'', edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (March 2015) *"Goa" in ''Twice the Pleasure: Bisexual Women's Erotica'', edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (April 2013), and in "Breathless: Steamy Sexy Short Stories", edited by Roger Leatherwood (March 2015) *"Hold On Harder" in ''Best Bondage Erotica of the Year volume 1'', edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (March 2020) *"Floating in Space" in ''Girl Fever: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex for Lesbians'', edited by Sacchi Green (June 2012) *"Mojave" in ''Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year volume 2'', edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (March 2020) *"Obey" in ''Dancing with Myself'', edited by Jillian Boyd (February 2018) *"Symphony" in ''Begging For It: Female Fantasy Erotica'', edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (July 2016) *"Teamwork" in ''Me and My Boi: Queer Erotic Stories'', edited by Sacchi Green (September 2015)Non-Fiction Articles: *"Electric to the Azores" in ''Practical Boat Owner'' (February 2024) *"Get More Life Out of Lines" in ''Practical Boat Owner'' (May 2024) *"When the Ice Melts" in ''Practical Boat Owner'' (Summer Issue, June 2024)

References

External links

* *Out in Print: Queer Book Review
"Best of 2014"
*Hankins Readin
"Cooling Down, Heating Up"
on the Liz McMullen Show *Author Page at

Dena Hankins
*Sailing Blog
Sovereign Nations
*Photography by James Lane
Sovereign NationsSexlife Canada Review
of ''Twice the Pleasure: Bisexual Women's Erotica''
Interview with Dena Hankins about writing ''Blue Water Dreams''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hankins, Dena 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American women novelists American women short story writers American short story writers 1975 births Living people American erotica writers American queer writers American LGBTQ novelists University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni American women erotica writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American LGBTQ people Queer novelists